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The reviews for Rocky's first album since departing the legendary Bluesbreaker band leader, John Mayall, are coming in from around the world and are unanimous! Shakin' the Dust "unpacks Rocky's strongest weapon, razor sharp and blistering guitar work"! Writer Walter Vanheuckelom for Concert Monkey Belgium says "You Pushed Me Too Far" is one of the best songs on the album! Check it out and play it LOUD! #TexasStyle

Click here to read the full, original review in Dutch and follow Concert Monkey's excellent recommendations. Thank you, Concert Monkey, Walter Vanheuckelom and all the European music fans! For our English speaking fans, a translated version of this review appears at the bottom for your convenience.

For our English speaking fans, below is a translated version of the review.

Rocky Athas is an American guitarist from Texas. In his teens he played guitar together with his school friend Stevie Ray Vaughan. At the age of twenty-three, he was elected by the top ten guitarists in Texas. Thin Lizzy, not the first band, was so impressed by the guitar playing of Rocky Athas during the Mother Blues Festival in Dallas, that they immediately wrote the song 'Cocky Rocky' about it. In the late seventies, Rocky worked as a musician for Polygram Records in the Memphis Ardent Studios. After that Rocky was a member of The Southern Rock band Black Oak Arkansas for a while and played on their legendary albums 'Ready As Hell' and 'The Wild Bunch'. In 2002 he was heard on 'Blues Berries' by Bobby Miles, the drummer of the Jimmy Hendrix Band Of Gipsy's. The well-known producer Jim Gaines was impressed by the qualities of Rocky Athas and found that Rocky had to make music under his own name. In 2003 the album 'Miracle' by The Rocky Athas Group was released, two years later the successor 'Voodoo Moon' appeared and in 2007 'Lightning Strikes Twice' appeared and that was the last studio album, because two years later Rocky became the regular guitarist with the British blues icon John Mayall. If the busy schedule of the still energetic John Mayall permits it, Rocky Athas will continue his own career. In 2014 he released the album 'Let My Guitar Do The Talking ... With My Friends'. John Mayall, Smoking Joe Kubek and some other well-known friends from Rocky lent their cooperation to this CD. In 2015 'The Essential Volume I' was released and in 2016 the successor 'The Essential Volume II'. These collectors of Rocky's work should give him more name recognition in Europe. On the fifteenth of October, Rocky's new album 'Shakin' The Dust 'was released with eleven tracks, all written by Rocky Athas outside the four covers. Producer is the legendary Jim Gaines.

'Shakin' The Dust 'opens with the Texas rocker' Dictator ', in which Rocky Athas immediately unpacks with his strongest weapon, razor sharp and blistering strings. Also in the blues rocker 'You Pushed Me Too Far', one of the best songs on the album, the qualities of Athas as guitarist are again amply discussed. This 'You Pushed Me Too Far' evokes memories of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Jimmy Reed, the 'I Is not Got You' written by Calvin Carter, took over 60 years ago. It has been covered countless times, even by The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith. The version of Rocky Athas certainly has a place among the better covers and that's because of his fantastic guitar work. Son Rocky Athas II on bass and drummer Walter Watson provide the wonderful rock groove. 'Time Flies' is a delightful compelling rock ballad and the blues rock shuffle 'Texas Girl' has a great guitar intro. The longest track on the album is the psychedelic ballad 'No More Breath', in which Rocky again gives a lot of feeling in his unparalleled string work.

Athas has his own stamp on the Johnny Guitar Watson cover 'Looking Back'. The Texan plays the song a bit less fast than the original and that gives the song an extra touch. In 1955, Little Willie John already had a hit with 'I Need Your Love So Bad', but the song was immortalized in the versions of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Gary Moore and The Allman Brothers. The guitar virtuoso Rocky Athas has not changed that much to these very intense slowblues. The most important thing in this song is the feeling that you can put in your strings and that is one of the strongest points of this Texan guitarist. After these two very beautiful covers, we get Rocky's own work again with 'Not This Time'. In this melodic rocker it is again enjoying the ripping guitar work of Rocky and the catchy chorus invites you to sing along and dance. The album ends with the magisterial, instrumental Jimmy Hendrix cover 'Villanova Junction' in which the guitar naturally takes on the leading role and then Athas is at its best. 'Shakin' The Dust 'by Rocky Athas is a very pleasant album. Especially the guitar lovers will really enjoy this' Shakin 'The Dust'. (7.5 / 10)